


Comfort Zone

by dear_lilan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Braces, Gen, Keith/Lance bickering, Keith/Lance friendship, Shiro doesn't help much either, keith gets braces, lance is so not nice about it at first but then he comes around
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-08-19
Updated: 2016-11-12
Packaged: 2018-08-09 16:06:05
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 3,379
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7808329
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dear_lilan/pseuds/dear_lilan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Keith always came across as a pretty confident guy. And he was, really. Except for one little thing.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

Keith walks in to the Altean castle with his head down, gaze locked on the floor and lips firmly shut.

Why is he so worried though? Has he made a huge mistake? It’s just braces, and the rest of team Voltron is pretty friendly. Of course he wouldn’t be able to avoid some jokes and comments, but between some smirks here and sympathetic looks there, it shouldn’t be too bad. 

Except...

Lance.

Lance had started to pick on Keith since day one. The list of nicknames was endless and grew bigger every day, covering everything there was to be covered, from Keith’s mullet, to his music taste, to his red jacket, so Keith tries his hardest to convince himself that another nickname about his braces won’t be too hard to handle. 

But on the other hand, Keith also knows that Lance won’t let him live this down. At least while those godforsaken brackets were glued to his teeth. After all, Lance usually made fun of things that Keith was perfectly comfortable with. And Keith can already imagine Lance throwing him all of his snarky comments, flashing his perfect, straight smile… ugh, why can’t he have straight teeth too?! It is just so unfair, and the sharp wires digging against his cheeks are now a painful and constant reminder. 

Keith has never been too self-conscious about his image. Sure, sometimes his hair refuses to cooperate in the mornings, and he does work out to add some muscle to his skinny shape. The only thing that ever bothered him is his smile: the left side on the top, where his teeth were overlapped and misaligned, the bottom arch that was crooked and messy. But he never really cared enough to get it fixed. It seemed superfluous and unnecessary back then. 

But then he started having some bad pains in his jaw joints. It wasn’t too bad until his mandible started clicking every time he closed his mouth. Coran ran some tests and it wasn’t anything a cryopod could fix.   
So, they flew to a planet with blue aliens that studied Earth, and were absolutely thrilled to try and help with Keith’s problem in exchange for some human knowledge. The diagnosis was almost immediate after some exams – he had TMJ problems, caused by bruxism and stress, and also by the bad positioning of his teeth.   
The alien scientist had suggested either fixing his teeth (with contraptions very much similar to Earth braces), or getting some kind of night guard. The latter seemed like the easier option, so Keith would be having it fitted today.  
However, when Keith went in, alone, he wondered whether it would be worth it to fix his teeth, and, in a spur of the moment, he asked how long it would take to correct his teeth. The scientist told him that one and a half decapheebes should do the trick, before asking him if that was what he wanted, and Keith found himself saying yes. 

He started to regret his decision about halfway through the procedure. What was he getting himself into?? The tools disposed on the table didn’t look too friendly, and he had been laying with his mouth open for almost an hour, having only a slight idea of what was being done. He didn’t want this! He did want straight teeth, but braces?!

The scientist stopped what he was doing, and put the chair back up, getting Keith into a sitting position. “Alright, I’m nearly done, I just need to get a few more things. Meanwhile, just choose the color for your ligatures.”

Keith could finally feel what had been done so far, and it wasn’t a pleasant sensation. The pieces of metal glued to his teeth felt large, and rubbed against the insides of his cheeks. He was handed several colors to choose from, and quickly decided on dark blue, feeling like it would be the most discrete he could get. As the alien got back and leaned the chair back once again, he could only hope this final part wasn’t too painful. 

The wires were tightened and he was sent home, after some instructions from the alien about his braces, as well as a warning that his mouth would start hurting sometime in the next couple of hours, and would be really sore for at least a few days.   
At this point, though, Keith was too nervous to even worry about the pain or about how uncomfortable it already was. The only thing in his mind was how everyone would react – how Lance would react. Even Keith himself had been sort of shocked after the scientist handed him a mirror to finally see his new braces – he could only wonder what everyone would say about it.

“Hey, you’re back! So, how did it go?” Shiro’s friendly voice echoes in the hallway.

Keith’s stomach does a backflip. Suddenly, he’s terrified of letting anyone see his teeth, and his mind races, thinking of ways of keeping his mouth closed for a year and a half, and-

But Shiro is here now, and deep down, Keith knows he’ll realize something is up right away. So he just tries to speak slowly, enouncing his words as carefully as possible, and quickly throws his hair in front of his face to hide as much as he could. “It went well.”

Shiro frowns, and tries to get a closer look at him. “Are you alright? You’re acting strange.”

'Mm yeah, everything's fine.'

'Then why are you hiding behind your hair?'

Keith swallows.

Shiro places one hand on Keith’s left shoulder, while the other clumsily grabs the bangs that hang in front of his face, and pulls it up, completely uncovering Keith’s face. “Much better. You were saying?”   
Keith purses his lips, squeezing them into a tight line, trying not to wince at the increased pressure inflicted on his teeth, and just shrugs, feeling blood rush to his cheeks. “Did they give you novocaine and left your tongue numb? Is that why you don’t wanna talk? And why you’re hiding?” Shiro inquires, one eyebrow raised, and his face inches close from Keith’s. 

Shiro sighs, dropping Keith's hair and backing away a bit, before attacking Keith's sides with tickles, as he squirms uncontrollably. “Ah come on, don't run away, you look like you need some cheering up!” Shiro moves his hands to Keith's neck and tickles harder. 'Come one, just laugh!'

And Keith does. His neck is his ticklish spot after all. It isn't for more than a second, but Shiro doesn't need more time to realize it.

'You got braces?!'

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> As stated officially, decapheebs = years.


	2. Chapter 2

Keith groans. 'Would you please be more quiet?! I don't want the others to find out.'

Shiro can't help but laugh. 'I don't think hiding you have braces from people you live with is exactly doable, Keith.' Shiro crosses his arms, smiling simpathetically.

Keith buries his head in his hands, taking a deep breath, and looks at Shiro again. 'I know, I know, I just... I need some more time...'

'For what? Those braces aren't going away so soon.' Shiro states. 'How long do you need them for?'

'Year and a half.' Keith sighs. Shiro puts his hand on his shoulder again.

'I'm sorry buddy. But hey, it could be a lot worse,' he says, 'year and a half isn't so bad. You'll get rid of those things before you know it.'

Keith sighs as Shiro walks away. He knew he was trying to help, but right now, year and a half seems like an eternity, and Keith isn't even sure how he is supposed to face the rest of the Voltron team.

He gets to his room as quickly as he can and just throws himself into his bed on his stomach, face buried in the pillow, and groans. It hasn't been more than an hour, but the real pain has started to kick in, and Keith is regretting his decision more than ever. He sighs and gets up, walking around the room and stopping in front of the mirror. Hesitant, he attempts a smile, and he doesn't feel much different than he first did back at the dentist's office. He hates what he sees. _'_ _They just look even more crooked than before!'_ He examines the bent wire connecting the teeth that overlap at the top and can't help but think how much worse it looks. And feels. That part is definitely the most sore so far. He lies back down and grabs a book about Altean culture that he borrowed from Allura, trying not to think about dinner in a few hours. 

 

***

'Keith is everything alright?'

Allura's soft voice makes Keith snap out of it suddenly. They're at the dinner table and he can only manage to look down and force his mouth closed while he plays with the food in his plate. He tried to eat earlier, but biting into food had become incredibly painful in just a matter of hours, and the nagging ache all over his gums was getting more and more intense. So eating at all is more or less out of question. He tried to focus on Pidge's description of a new gadget he and Hunk had come up with in the afternoon, but he felt too nervous to even do that.

He can see Shiro looking at him expectantly, which only makes him blush again. 'Uh uh, I'm fine.'

Allura has worry etched in her face. 'But you haven't touched your food at all! What's the matter?'

'Um, it's nothing... I just, uh-'

'KEITH GOT BRACES!' Shiro can't contain himself.

Hunk chokes on his food.

 _'Oh please someone fucking kill me now._ ' Keith is afraid to even look up at his friends' faces. After hearing their various reactions, such as 'Are you serious?', 'What?!', 'Oh!', 'Braces? What even are those?' and 'I don't even understand why this is such a big deal', he slowly moves his head upwards and then to his left side, where Lance is sitting.

Lance's face doesn't look much different than it did when he found out about Pidge being a girl. His jaw hangs wide open in surprise, and he can barely muster any sort of reaction for a while.

'Y-you?! _Braces_?!'

 _'Oh god..._ '

'AHAHAHAH!!' Lance bursts out laughing, doubling in his seat with one arm across his stomach.

'Are you fucking serious right now, Lance?' Keith's anxious state has been replaced with anger, and he yells at Lance, fuming.

Lance looks up at him, and breaks into a new bout of laughing. 'OH MY GOD THIS IS AMAZING!! AHAHAHAH!'

Keith pinches the bridge if his nose, trying to find the self control to not punch Lance in the face, who is already a bit calmer, although with a wide Cheshire Cat smile still on his face.

'Ah, sorry, but this is too good... How does it feel to be a brace face, Keith?' Lance smirks, getting up from his chair. 'You know, it's nothing to be ashamed of. After all, not everyone can be born with a _perfect_ smile.' He flashes his shiny, pearly whites, just to add salt to Keith's already wounded ego.

'You know what!?' Keith gets up from his chair, making everyone shift their gaze from Lance to him. 'Screw you, Lance!' The chair gets pushed in, and Keith storms off to his room again.

 

***

 

'Fuck Lance and his stupid perfect teeth!' Keith hisses after slamming his bedroom door shut, 'And fuck Shiro for telling everyone! Ugh!' He sits down on his bed, resting his elbows on his knees and letting his face drop to his hands, trying to get his breathing to a more relaxed rythm. and finally decides he needs a distraction fom the pain in his jaw and from 'stupid Lance'.  Keith lets himself fall backwards, picking up Allura's book again, and tries to concentrate on the words. 

A little over an hour goes by, when someone knocks at the door. He groans and puts the book down.

'Who is it?' He calls out.

'It's me.'

It takes him a while to recognize Lance's voice, because it sounds different. It sounds lower and calmer, and nearly... _humble_.

But Keith is still pissed. 'What the fuck to you want?' He snarls, annoyed.

'Hey, I'm not gonna make fun of your braces anymore, I promise,' Lance replies, 'just let me in.'

Keith has spent enough time with Lance to know he won't leave until he says whatever he wants to say, so he gets up with a defeated sigh and opens the door, turning his back immediately and laying down again. 'Why are you here, then?'

Lance closes the door and sits down on the rug, his back against the nightstand, right next to Keith's bed. He searches from something in his pocket and takes out an ice pack, handing it to Keith like a peace offer.

'Uh, Shiro and I guessed you were probably in pain...' Lance pauses and looks down. 'Anyway, he feels bad - we both do - so, I hope this helps.' Keith hesitantly decides to accept the ice, and presses it against the left side of his face, that had started to really bother him a while ago, and immediately felt some relief. But he still doesn't feel like being nice to Lance. Even if the ice is feeling amazing on his sore teeth.

'Okay,' he says in a dry tone, 'anything else?'

'I'm not sure if this helps,' Lance's voice comes out lower, 'but... I had braces too. A few years ago. So I kinda know what you're going through right now.'

Keith is surprised. 'Really?'

He looks at Lance. 'Yeah,' he replies, 'I was fourteen, when I got them, and I got them off right before I got in the Garrison. So, you know, my smile wasn't always this perfect... In fact, my teeth were a mess...' Lance chuckles a little. 'And I made such a huge drama when I got braces, I seriously thought my family would disown me...' He lets out a soft laugh, as if he's talking a bit to himself. 'I acted all cocky and confident about it like it wasn't a big deal for me, until they were on. When I got home from the clinic I begged my mom to go back and get them taken off, but she refused, of course.' He stops looking at the floor and turns his face to look at Keith. 'So I know what it feels like.'

'And you still decided to laugh at me anyway? Even after you went through the same and claiming how horrible you felt?'

Lance sighs. 'Look, I know, I was a total jerk. I really can't explain why I did it, but I'm sorry.'

Keith rolls on the bed to lay on his back and stares at the ceiling. 'It's alright. I'm probably being too sensitive about this anyway. Don't worry about it.'

Lance nods. 'Thanks man. But I do promise not to make fun of your braces again.'

'You know, you could extend your kindness a bit and promise not to make fun of _me_ again.' Keith jokes, not feeling so upset anymore. Although he'd never admit it, he really appreciates that Lance actually took the time to come to his room and apologize.  

Lance grins. 'Nope. And consider yourself lucky.' He laughs. 'So how long do you need those things for anyway?'

'A year and a half if things go well enough.' Keith replies, rolling his body to lay on his side and face Lance.

'What?! A year and a half is nothing! I wore mine for so much longer...'

'Oh, believe me, it's only been a few hours and I think they have been on for long enough,' Keith groans, 'I seriously want them off.'

'That bad, huh?'

Keith shrugged. 'The ice's helping a little, but yeah.' He pulls himself into a sitting position on the edge if the bed, still holding the ice pack against his jaw. 'You should know what it's like.'

'We can watch a movie if you'd like,' Lance suggests, 'you know, to take your mind of the pain.'

'That's not a bad idea at all,' Keith agrees, 'I could really use some distraction.'

 

***

 

It's two hours later when Shiro opens the door to Keith's room and finds Keith resting his head on Lance's shoulder, fast asleep. Lance appears to be asleep as well, but Shiro's light footsteps apparently wake him up.

'Shh,' Lance presses his finger against his own lips, 'he's finally asleep, so be quiet.'

Shiro looks ready to drag Lance back to his room, but he has fallen asleep once again, his own head resting on the top of Keith's, and Shiro really doesn't have the heart to wake them up.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Alright, I think this one is the last chapter! I hope you enjoyed the story and please, if you have any idea about my story or anything you'd like to see, feel free to share it with me in the comments! Thank you :)


	3. Chapters 3

Keith wakes up still dressed with the previous day's clothes, and vaguely recalls Lance pulling the blankets over him and leaving the room. It takes him a few moments to realize how bad his jaw aches, and only then he remembers.

 _Braces_.

Right.

With a groan, he pulls himself up and walks to the bathroom. With eyes still tired from sleep, he attempts a smile at the mirror, but one look is enough to realize he still hates how the metallic wiry mess on his teeth looks.

After a quick shower, he changes and leaves his room to go get breakfast. It's still a little early, so he's surprised when he sees Lance already at the table, chatting with Hunk.

"Morning." He greets them. Lance turns his head away from Hunk.

"Hey Keith!" Hunk smiles. "I made breakfast for you too." He points to one of the plates in the small counter behind them. It looks like some sort of noodles, with strange pinkish round space fruit pieces.

"Thanks Hunk." Keith gets his plate and takes a seat in front of Lance. To be honest, he still doesn't know if he'll be able to chew at all. His teeth hurt a lot worse than yesterday, but the meal looks rather edible, at least compared with the usual green goo, so he decides hell at least make an effort.

"So," Lance finishes his own breakfast and pushes his plate aside, looking at Keith, "how's your mouth feeling today?"

Keith sighs. "Not better."

Lance's smile is sympathetic. "The second day is usually the worst. I'd cut those pink things in smaller pieces if I were you."

Keith accepts the suggestion and takes a bite. The small amount of pressure of chewing makes Keith wince, and his face twists in a tight grimace.

"Oww." He moans, a hand moving towards his face to massage his jaw. Hunk and Lance stare, feeling a bit bad for their friend. Keith isn't one to whine about small pains, and they quickly realize this is really bothering him.

"Hmm, I could try to put those in a blender." Hunk suggests. "You know, make a smoothie.'"

"Yeah, smoothies are the best thing when braces are causing you trouble.'"Lance says.

Keith sighs and hands Hunk his plate, muttering a small "thanks", and blushing.

He hated this. He was already so embarrassed because of how horrible the braces made him look, and now this.

As if his bad luck couldn't be worse, Shiro walks in, still in his training clothes, after an early practice in the training deck.

"Morning everyone." He smiles. He then notices Keith hunched over the table, his head resting in his arms. "You alright, Keith?"

Hunk comes back with Keith's smoothie, that almost looks like a strawberry smoothie, and places it on the table in front of him. Keith finally lifts his head and grabs the glass. His voice comes out tired and frustrated.

"My teeth hurt." He replies before taking a sip. It's soft and cold, and it feels good on his sore jaw.

Shiro's face softens. "I'm sorry. I know it takes a few days to get used to it."

"Yeah." Keith finishes his smoothie, his lips curling over the top braces.

"Don't worry, give it a few more days and you won't even feel them," Lance says, "well, except when you get them tightened."

Keith groans, and rests his head in his arms once again. " _Just a year and a half_ ," he says to himself, " _a year and a half_."


End file.
